To Have And To Hold

Unharnessing The Potential...

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Unharnessing The Potential...

LOA

After finishing our little show for The Council, Tati brought us back down to the ground, releasing us from our harnessed state. I looked over to find Mahan staring at me with love, adoration—and immense pride.

Walking towards him, I humorously called out, “So, which do you like better? My beautiful hairstyle or my new fairy wings?”

“I’m enamored a great deal by both, my little Songbird,” Mahan chuckled, “Though the beautiful fairy wings do explain your good mood as of late, including your penchant for humming happy tunes often, which I have also enjoyed immensely.”

As I took in his humored expression, I couldn’t help but feel enamored myself at how handsome Mahan was—age was merely a number when it came to my mate, whose long, oval face still appeared so youthful even with grey hair, especially as his was a darker grey, much like that of a dark eclipse, contrasting with Mahan’s light skin and gorgeous grey eyes. The flecks of gold that both captivated and mesmerized me were radiating even brighter around his pupils in Mahan’s excitement, gleaming much like my magical wings.

His arms weaving around my waist, Mahan pulled me close, leaning down to softly kiss my lips before whispering against them, “You were magnificent out there today, Loa, and so stunning flying up in the air with your new wings. I like my surprise a great deal. It gives me peace of mind that you will be kept out of harm’s way in any wolf battle moving forward as part of the Sorceress Six. And I’m very proud at how well you have mastered it all.”

“Thank you,” I grinned, “After our successful search today, you can show me how enamored you are with me at dinner, which we will be having out on our balcony alone this evening. Another little surprise I planned to hopefully ease your mind and relax your worries a bit.”

“I like the sound of that and may have a surprise of my own for you upon our return,” Mahan lovingly returned in a soft tone, “I’m sorry I’ve been a bit out of sorts lately, my love, but hopefully we will find some answers today and enjoy a wonderful evening together.”

*******

SPIROS

After what I just experienced, I was even more driven to step outside of my comfort zone and prove myself to Nicholas and The Council. I’ve never felt more alive in a workout—a fact that left me wanting more...

The minute I shifted, my father’s best friends, Ronan, Artem, and Zixin were congratulating me and Zayden, as Artem animatedly exclaimed, “Spiros, my boy, that was great work with the girls! Like your father, you pick things up quickly and run with them!”

Ecstatic as he patted Zayden on the back, Zixin cheerfully boasted, “You both are picking things up quickly. Makes me a little jealous that we aren’t still out in the field!”

Ronan proudly stated, “Don’t tell Faizon I said this when he comes out of is hiding spot by the tree line, but I think you two picked that up even faster than he did back when we first trained on working with magic. He was always the Power of Three’s star student back then—and you had the power of six behind you! Like Zixin, I would love to be out there with you!”

His first words sticking in my mind, I surprisingly asked, “Wait—Dad’s here?”

As Horacio came to stand beside us, Ronan pointed towards where Anabelle and Remi were standing—and that’s when I saw my father, his arm wrapped around Anabelle’s shoulders animatedly talking with her as the three walked towards us...

Dad had the brightest smile on his face when he pulled me into a hard hug as I curiously asked, “Why didn’t you watch with Anabelle and Remi instead of standing all the way back by the trees?”

“I didn’t want to be a distraction, especially since I was impatient, arriving at the very beginning of your workout,” Dad happily returned, pulling me back to peer deep into my eyes, “You were outstanding today, Spiros! I’m so proud of you, son! You make me suddenly hate retirement watching you out there. And I must say—you and Zayden work very well together.”

“I’ll say they did,” Horacio ardently stated, “You two were succinct in every maneuver you performed together today. In my opinion, that is something that needs to be explored further.”

“I would have to agree,” Nicholas kindly stated as he, Gavin, and Jace came to stand beside Horacio, “You two were very impressive today, especially your joint effort.”

“We want to schedule more workouts with you two partnering up,” Gavin thoughtfully informed us, “Starting tomorrow morning, if you are both in agreement to continue working together.”

“Count me in!” Zayden enthusiastically replied, looking over at me, “What do you say, Spiros?”

“Absolutely,” I eagerly agreed, “I never realized how similar our minds work and I like the rhythm we have together.”

“That settles it, then,” Jace enthused, “I have some interesting ideas in mind for you two to work on. But for now, focus on the search party, Spiros. We’ll discuss things more later this afternoon.”

I readily agreed, looking back at my father, who was proudly gazing back at me—a broad smile crossing my face as I readied myself for my next new experience...

**********

TATIANA

There was always a level of nervousness when Horacio and I weren’t working together on a mission and today was no different. Maybe that’s why when Badru, Horacio, Guntur, Beast, and Spiros joined in on our little demonstration, I secretly added a cloaking spell to their tattoos, in hopes to keep Igor’s witch unaware of their presence in the area, should she try to conjure up any visions.

By doing so, I felt Igor would feel less threatened or tempted to strike if he thought Mahan only sent a few of his warriors to look for clues of his whereabouts, leaving him unaware of the key players who were also dispatched, including my Moon Stone Alpha himself who had decided to take over the lead of the second team from Beast, as he had been asked to help mentor Spiros on his first outing as a search team member...

When I hugged Mahan after our little display of power, I also added a cloaking spell to his tattoo and sneakily included one for a completely unaware Loa when I encased our clasped hands with my aura to share the visions Raven and I had about the location, as she would be joining the second search party with Mahan.

Even still, as we all stood in Aruna’s great room getting ready to send everyone off, I had my arms tight around Horacio’s waist—part of me not wanting to let go...

Laughing under his breath as he watched Umar in a quiet, but serious conversation with Guntur, Horacio muttered under his breath, “Umar is struggling, even though I’ve promised him a hundred times that I would keep an eye on Guntur. I think he needs cut strings as much as Celestia does. The kid is ready, just like Spiros is.”

Peering over at Anabelle and Spiros, our young mates were gazing at one another adoringly as Anabelle was continuing to give Spiros encouragement, as were Aruna and Nicholas who stood beside them. Spiros’ expression was intent as he listened to Nicholas’ words, concentrating on every syllable, his eyes reflecting excitement and anticipation in them.

My sweet girl looked less than thrilled as well as Beast held her close, affectionately peering down at Tink before placing a soft kiss on her lips and nuzzling his nose against hers.

“Promise you will let me know if you need me,” I quietly encouraged, “And if I feel any inkling that my King of Fury requires my presence, I will leave Mystic Fire and appear by your side.”

Squeezing my shoulders, Horacio lightheartedly replied, “There will never be a time I will complain about you showing up by my side, but I don’t think it will be necessary today. I’ll be back before you know it. In fact, I’ll even wager that you get a link while you’re at Mystic Fire that I do need you by my side—hopefully, you won’t be too busy to bring me there. We can go for a walk to the Enchanted Garden before figuring out a room we can claim all our own there—I rather like having options for private escapes.”

Grinning up at him, I lovingly exhaled out, “I love you, my King, and will never be too busy to bring you back home to me—or to plan private getaways.”

“And I love you, my Queen,” Horacio sweetly returned, “Behave while I’m gone and keep Madeline busy adding the finishing touches to her wedding attire, while I find some answers so we can ease both hers and Nicholas’ minds. I’m not going to allow Igor to force a postponement of their wedding day—one way or another they will walk down the aisle as planned—period.”

************

ARTURO

After a glorious morning rout with Josie to get my blood pumping, I went to have breakfast with Igor as he, Oralia, Lucious, Sahar, and I went over our plans again. Sahar conjured up a vision, informing us that she no longer saw the Betas, Beast, or Loa in the search party, only Mahan’s warriors...

“Seems we are fortunate that I had the first vision when I did,” Sahar anxiously drawled out, “I have to believe they will all still be there, especially after yesterday. Their disappearance from today’s vision must be from a spell put in place between yesterday and now to hide their presence from us.”

“I tend to agree with you, Sahar,” Igor irritatingly growled out, “So, regardless of what you have just seen, we will proceed as planned. In fact, it’s time that you two were off to prepare for their arrival. I will expect you to return in due order with news of the death of the Betas and Loa. I’ll have the cook prepare a feast for this evening and make sure Josie is here to congratulate you, Arturo.”

“Thank you, Igor,” I appreciatively replied, standing up and flashing him a broad grin, “I have full confidence that Sahar and I will return shortly with news that is worthy of celebrating!”

*********

Sahar placed us both under a cloaking spell to mask our presence before we went to the spot that she had seen Beast and the other Moon Stone warriors in, impressing me with her ingenious mind. Putting a spell in place that would take effect as anyone set foot on the grassy area, their ability to link would cease for an hour, leaving them on their own and prohibiting the warrior wolves from alerting Mahan, Tatiana, Raven, or any of The Council inner circle in case we needed more time as even at the fastest of paces, it would take the group at least twenty minutes to reach the other clearing on foot.

We then appeared in the grassy area we had just been at the day before, Sahar immediately going to work on another spell, extending her hand out to expel a cloud of blue that covered the entire area and the forest around us...

Her eyes lighting up in the same dark blue hue, Sahar chanted out in a tranced state, “Outside communication ceases for our enemy that shows up here, to keep away unwanted visitors they want to bring near. But there is an exception that can still hear and appear, but only one—the Moon Stone witch Loa is allowed, as her time on earth should be done. I command the unprotected to heed my call, wolves once theirs are to be MINE, my will to be done by all!”

Once everything was in place, we took our spots a good distance away, hidden from view behind a large pile of brush that still enabled us to have a good view from the opposite side of the forest—Sahar and I anxiously awaiting the arrival of our victims—and their killers. Friends that thanks to Sahar’s spell, would soon become Badru, Guntur, and Horacio’s greatest enemies...

*************

HORACIO

After we arrived at Moon Stone, Mahan gathered all his men before we split up into two groups. Guntur was a bit uneasy that the rest of our group consisted of Celimine’s father and five brothers, but between his mate giving them a stern warning—which even intimidated me, especially as I had never seen Celimine that way, but had even more respect for her afterwards—and my presence beside him, they seemed to be behaving themselves, for now at least...

To narrow things down quickly, Loa sent us to the middle of the dark forest, while she, Mahan, and the rest of their group headed to another location several miles to the east, with Badru and Mahan agreeing to keep each other apprised if one of the areas was indeed the place Igor had taken Maxim and Anabelle.

As soon as we walked into the clearing, Badru sent Celimine’s brothers to secure our perimeter as I peered back to see Spiros still standing inside the dark forest where we entered, remaining so far back that he and Beast, who remained behind with him, were honestly hard to spot. Appearing to be intently scanning the area, I linked over, Everything okay?

Spiros’ tone was full of hesitation and concern in his reply, I don’t know. My gut is telling me something isn’t right here, Horacio.

I wasn’t shocked at his answer, I’d seen it plenty of times—the nerves that come with a new warriors first parlay into this kind of work, deciding to give Spiros a moment to gather himself while I replayed Tati’s vision to see if this was indeed the area Maxim and Anabelle had been brought to...

Looking around as the images played in my mind, my wolf excitedly barked as I linked to the members of our inner circle, This is it! This is where Igor brought them!

*************

ARTURO

This damn witch was taking too long! The army of wolves—including that son of a b***h, Horacio—were exactly where we wanted them, but five of them were snooping around the outer edges, obviously checking the perimeter, leaving us vulnerable...

My irritation became overwhelming, as did my fury as I continued to glare at Horacio, fighting the urge to shift, barking out in a hushed whisper, “What the hell are you waiting for? Don’t you see those five warriors? We can’t take a chance of them seeing us!”

“I’m keeping them deterred from seeing us, Arturo,” Sahar drawled out under her breath, heavily concentrating on the group, “And you already know the answer to your question. We are waiting on Mahan’s little witch-bride, Loa, who should be showing up in a moment. I can tell from Horacio’s expression that he knows this is where we were yesterday.”

“If I had my way, we would go ahead and take care of those three now and have all six wolves waiting for Loa’s arrival,” I harshly murmured, happy that her betrayal of Alpha Roman would finally be vindicated, “That traitorous b***h deserves torturous mutilation and death just as much as Horacio does.”

“Horacio is Tatiana’s mate,” Sahar almost inaudibly murmured, “Which means when we kill him, there is a chance she will catch wind of trouble. And I want no chances taken. Loa needs to be taken out first, so we can quickly kill the others and return to the tunnels. So, just be patient, Arturo. It won’t be much longer before all hell breaks loose here.”

*********

GUNTUR

As Celimine’s brothers were securing the area, Cassius suggested that he and I take a look around. I reluctantly agreed, spying a patch of grass just north of us that looked out of place against the rest of the area as it was flattened down slightly.

While walking towards it, Unc sent out a link telling us that we were in the right place, leading me to quicken my step with Cassius following close behind...

Crouching down in front of the patch of uneven grass, I saw a few pieces of long, green blades covered in red, turning my head back to inform everyone, “Hey, there’s blood here. I think this may be where Anabelle landed when Spiros pushed her out of the way of Igor’s attack.”

Lowering himself to the ground, Cassius admiringly stated, “And found within mere minutes of our arrival—nicely done, Guntur.”

“That was a compliment,” I astonishingly replied, “I’m not sure how to take a compliment—I’m used to sarcasm, scares, and death threats.”

Patting my shoulder, Cassius laughed out, “Well, the day is young, Guntur. I’m sure at some point you’ll do something that makes me bring forth sarcasm, invoke a scare or two, and make you feel like your life is threatened. Despite what my daughter thinks, I’m afraid that’s to be expected from her overprotective father.”

**********

SPIROS

It was unshakable, this feeling I had deep inside. The moment we arrived in the forest, I not only felt something was off—I could feel enemy eyes on us. Quickly scanning the area, I slowly extended my gaze out towards the forest on the opposite side behind them. Something—someone—was out there, I just KNEW IT!

Horacio linked asking if I was alright as I kept myself cloaked deep inside the dark forest. I told him of my concern, but he didn’t immediately reply, which I didn’t mind as it left me undistracted from my own continued search...

Beast had remained behind me, almost protectively. He must have noticed the look in my eyes, as his baritone voice filtered into my head, Talk to me, Spiros.

Something’s not right, Beast, I can feel it. I know you outrank me but do me a favor and just trust me. You and I need to remain out of sight, at least for now, I cautiously replied, relieved when he did as I asked while I continued to methodically scan the forest across the way. If only I could find—

That’s when I heard it—the muffled sounds—my keen sense of hearing directing my eyes to dart to the left—THERE THEY ARE!

Fully opening my link to alert everyone I could, I emphatically warned, IT’S A TRAP! Arturo and a witch are in the forest behind you! Shift into your wolves—NOW!

************

HORACIO

Thrilled that we had found the right place, I had just told Badru to inform Mahan and Loa so they could bring their team here just as Guntur yelled out that he found blood he guessed was Anabelle’s.

I looked over towards the forest again, about to instruct Spiros to go over where Cassius and Guntur were crouched down, when I saw his hardened gaze locked towards the black forest on the opposite side of us just before his voice reverberated loudly in my head, IT’S A TRAP! Arturo and a witch are in the forest behind you! Shift into your wolves—NOW!

The first harrowing thought instantly popped in my mind—ARTURO IS HERE?

Whipping my head around to furiously peer into the forest behind us, I desperately searched for the son of a b***h who had threated not only my life, but the lives of my Fairy Queen and Jillian...

I’ll have my men shift and inform Mahan and Loa, Badru yelled out in my head, Horacio, link Auntie! We need the Sorceress Six!

I immediately shouted out to Tati but received nothing in return—a sinking feeling taking hold of me. My hand flying up to my fairy tattoo, I readied myself to shift into my wolf as I repeatedly made my desperate calls—praying that I could reach her through our connection—TATI! THERE’S TROUBLE!—WE NEED TO SORCERESS SIX!—I NEED YOU TO HEAR ME, FAIRY QUEEN!—PLEASE HURRY!—I NEED YOU, FAIRY QUEEN! NOW!

*************

MAHAN

We had only been in the clearing for a few moments when Loa made an odd statement—“Well, as Badru has just informed you and I that Horacio has confirmed their location is where Igor took Anabelle and Maxim, I guess ours was a wasted trip. I’ll get us to them now.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” I curiously replied, “Did Badru link us both?”

“I thought so—he said both our names,” Loa returned with a puzzled expression, before her face fell into sheer panic as she blurted out, “Mahan, they’re in trouble! It was a TRAP! We have to get to them NOW! Horacio is linking Tati to bring the rest of the Sorceress Six!”

Instantly alarmed, I was about to question her further, but before I could, Loa whisked her hand out in front of her, sending out a burst of her powers and disappearing from sight—while my men and I remained where we stood—alarmed, confused—and stunned.

Immediately attempting to link her, I was met with nothing—fear coursing heavily through my veins as I attempted to send an open link to everyone in my extended family, in particular Tati, only to find I couldn’t link anyone.

Panic-stricken, I shouted out at the top of my lungs, “No—NO! NOT LOA! NOT MY MOON STONES! NOT MY FAMILY!”

Turning towards my men, I harshly bellowed out before leaping into the air and bringing forth my wolf to break out into desperate run, “Shift into your wolves NOW! We must get to the other clearing! They need our help! Before it’s too late!”